[view·edit·purge]The word "mythril" or "mithril" is a metal found in many fantasy worlds. It was originally introduced by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, being present in his Middle-earth. It resembles silver but is stronger than steel, and much lighter in weight than either. The author first wrote of it in The Lord of the Rings, and it is retrospectively mentioned in the third, revised edition of The Hobbit in 1966. In the first 1937 edition, the mail shirt given to Bilbo is described as being made of "silvered steel". The name mithril comes from two words in Sindarin—mith, meaning "grey" or "mist", and ril meaning "glitter".